The Child of Light (Formerly
by Darkfire1
Summary: A crossover with Dragonball Z. A new group of vamps is trying to destroy the world, but they need a huge power source.*COMPLETE!!!* Feedback requested. R
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I just invited them to the party and look what happened!  
xxx  
  
Gohan was excited. In just five days, he would be starting highschool in the city! Cities had always facinated him; so many people living in such a small space, interacting in ways he had never even witnessed. He had been isolated for the most part for his entire life, and had only ever met another kid his own age once. That had been during the time before the Cell games, and it had been a girl called Lyme, who's parents had both been killed by Cell when he was still gathering energy. When he thought back to their meeting, he was glad that her parents would have been returned to life with the rest of the people Cell had killed when they had used the Dragonballs.  
  
The teenaged Saiyan had decided to take a little R&R before he had to really hit the books, so he was flying off into the woods for a while. He planned to meet Iccarus in the cave that he had lived in for years and then go fishing with him. Gohan hummed tunelessly as he flew, happy to be out of doors for a while.  
  
As Gohan neared the cave, he suddenly felt a strange energy gathering a few miles away. Curious and a little worried, he headed toward the source. He hadn't ever sensed anything like this. It wasn't particularly powerful, but it had a strange signature that was totally new to him.  
  
As he neared the source, he could see it through the trees, a huge, glowing ball of energy that pulsed and shimmered, almost dancing in the middle of the clearing where it rested. He landed beside it, peering inside its deapths, trying to see through the blinding light tof whatever was at it's center.  
  
Suddenly, the mass shot out tendrils of energy, reaching for and entrapping the Saiyan and drawing him toward itself. He fought against the tendrils with all his might, but he couldn't break them. He felt them reaching into HIS energy, and hoping to prevent himself being drained, he transformed, intending to break the bonds with the greater strength of a Super Saiyan.  
  
It was a mistake. The thing was able to follow the new energy to its source and wrap itself around Gohan's center. It paralysed him and then drained him to the point of unconciousness. Just before he passed out, he felt himself pulled into the mass of energy. Then he knew nothing more.  
xxx  
  
The sorcerer grinned as the now-defenseless Saiyan was dropped at his feet. The twenty or so vampires that served him desperately wanted a taste of this powerful young man, but he couldn't allow that. Not yet, anyway. There were still too many things to do. The boy's power was all that would be needed to finish this world, but it would take a lot to get it from him. The first spell had used all that it had gained from draining him just to get him here, but no matter. It would only take seven days to make another one, and this one would store the energy until the time was right for the Ritual. As the wizard's flunkies put the boy in the cage and he put the binding spells on his mind, he immagined the end of this horrid little world and grinned again. It was going to be SO sweet!  
xxx 


	2. Missing!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. They got drunk at the party and had to stay the night. What!? I couldn't let 'em Fly home in that state! They might have hit a plane and made it crash!  
xxx  
  
Buffy intended to enjoy this summer. Sure, Angel had gone walkabout and she hated not being with him. There were some moments that nothing could even ease that pain, let alone make it stop. But she was starting college this fall, and she didn't want to let the entire summer be wasted in brooding.  
  
She was headed for the Bronze, planning to meet Will and the rest of the gang there. They were having one last "The Mayor's Dead!" party, happily trashing the demon's reputation now that he couldn't (litteraly) bite their heads off. She was almost to the door when she sensed a lone vampire waiting by the door. Probably a new one, some young hot-head who had just learned about the Slayer and wanted to make his name on her death. Well, this dude had another thing coming!  
  
Buffy pulled a stake out of her jacket pocket and walked right up to the vamp, having seen him hiding in the shadows. She said, "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not polite to stalk people?" and she raised the stake to strike.  
  
The vampire said, "Wait! I have a message for you."  
  
"From who? Spill it fast, Bumpy, or I'll leave you for the street cleaners."  
  
The demon sighed in relief then said, "Believe me, I'll welcome it. I come to you of my own accord. I won't fence with you. I've enjoyed being a vampire, but there are far worse things out there than us. The man I've been working for the last hundred years is starting a new apocalypse in the very near future. I'm absolutely certain that he has everything he needs, the vampires, the Child of Light, the Vessel and all the spells. He's ready. And the world will die at his hand when he raises his Beast. The Ritual Is being held in two nights in the park at the gazebo."  
  
Buffy nodded. "Why are you telling me all this. Why should I trust your word? You could just be sending me into a trap."  
  
The vampire smirked tiredly. "Yes, I could be. But even if that is the case, you will want to be there, I think. Now, girl, I have only one small favor to ask of you for this information."  
  
Wary, Buffy said, "What's that?"  
  
"I want you to kill me. I have betrayed my master, and my life is forfiet. The death you offer is a far kinder and swifter one than he would give."  
  
Buffy raised an eyebrow at that. This guy was serious. Somehow, that made her trust his information. She nodded.  
  
The vampire closed his eyes and waited. When the blow he was expecting didn't come, he opened them again. Annoyed, he said, "What are you waiting for?"  
  
"I want to know your name. That's all."  
  
"Usaki."  
  
Buffy nodded again and this time she did what had been asked of her.  
xxx  
  
The gang listened to everything that she told them. Xander, Oz, and Anya really didn't have anything to say, other than Xander's "Well doesn't That just ruin our little snake roast."  
  
Willow asked, "Why did you want to know his name?"  
  
Buffy said, "I want you to see what you can find out about the things he said, Will, and that will probably be easier if you know his name."  
  
"Hmm. Usaki. Sounds oriental. I think I know where to look." They agreed to meet at Gilles' place in an hour.  
xxx  
  
Chichi was getting worried. Her eldest son hadn't been home in two days, and while she realized that he might just have decided to visit Capsule Corp. or Master Roshi's island, she thought that he would at least have had the common courtesy to call and tell her where he was.  
  
She noticed that Goten was acting a bit strangely, like he was worried about something. Could it be that he knew where Gohan had gotten off to? Well she was going to find out right now! "Goten, come here, please." The boy came obediently to his mother's side. "Did Gohan tell you where he was going?"  
  
Goten's look of worry increased. "No. I hoped You knew."  
  
This was bad. Well mabey he was with Bulma. She picked up the phone and dialed the number for Capsule Corp. "Yes, is Bulma there, Trunks? It's Chichi." She waited for a moment while the other boy yelled at the top of his lungs for his mother. "Hello, Bulma."  
  
On the other end of the line, the wealthy scientist thought she heard uneasiness in the other woman's voice. "Chichi? Is any thing the matter?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure. I haven't seen Gohan for nearly two days and I thought he was just going to see Icharus. He hasn't been there with you guys, has he?"  
  
Gohan? Missing for two days? "No, he hasn't been here. Have you called over at Master Roshi's place yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, why don't you do that and I'll get Trunks to see if he's been up at Kami's lookout." She would rather have sent Vegeta, but she knew better than to ask him to set foot on that platform.  
  
"Okay. I'll call you if he's at Roshi's."  
  
" 'Kay." And she hung up the phone. "Trunks can you do me a little favor before you go into the gravity room?"  
  
"Sure, Mom! What is it?"  
  
"I need you to go up to Kami's lookout for me. I'd go in the plane, but you fly faster than that thing. I need you to find out if Gohan's been up there in the last two days. Take the cell phone. You wouldn't think it, but that thing gets great reception up there. Call me and tell me what you find out, okay?"  
  
"Okay." The violet haired youth took the phone and headed off to the north, towards the lookout.  
  
Meanwhile, Chichi was on the phone with Krillin at Master Roshi's. "And he hasn't been there either,"she said, the beginnings of hysteria beginning to creep up on her. "When I get my hands on that boy... Oh he's going to be Grounded for the Rest of his Life!"  
  
Krillin felt himself sweating. Good grief, that woman was nuts! He silently thanked fate that it had been Goku and not him that had found the solution for Ox King and won Chichi's betrothal. Only a Saiyan could possibly have survived her. He knew she was only worried, but that made it hard on everyone else.  
  
Still this thing had him worried, too. Gohan wasn't the type to just go off and not let anyone know where he was. What if something had happened to him in those woods where no one was around to help him? Of course he Was the most powerful being in the galaxy as far as any of them knew, and he could probably handle anything that came his way, but still, this was unusual. "Has any one gone up to Kami's place to see if Piccolo or Dende have seen him or can find him?"  
  
"Yeah, Bulma sent Trunks up there just a few minutes ago."  
  
"Well, I think I'll join him. If things turn out that we need to go looking for him, I'm going to want to be in on it." He hung up the phone and told Master Roshi what was going on.  
  
"Hmm. I can't sense Gohan anywhere. Where ever he is, if he's still on this planet, he's not powered up, because I'd be able to sense it. Either he's in no trouble at all, or..." He stopped, not really wanting to voice that possibility.  
  
So Krillin finished for him. "Or he's in a whole lot of it." Roshi nodded, sighing.  
  
Krillin echoed it. "Well, I'm going up to Kami's place. I have a bad feeling about all this, and I think we're going to need Piccolo's help."  
  
"You weren't planning on leaving without telling me, were you?" came a voice from behind them on the stairs. A deep, feminine voice, silky and deadly.  
  
Krillin winced and reminded himself never to thank the fates for anything ever again. "No! Of course not, Eighteen!" He turned around to face his wife. The beautiful blonde cyborg was human in most ways, but she still had some programing that had been so integral to her altered design that not even Bulma would have been able to remove them, even if they had wanted her to. One of those was the way she reacted in temper. She was like a colder version of Chichi, at least where her husband's activities were involved. Where Chichi would have been throwing things and strangling people and shouting at the top of her lungs, Android 18 just stood in the stairwell, leaning against the wall and glaring. But it was just as effective. "I was just about to come up there. Ah, look, this could be serious. I really Do need to go."  
  
Her expression softened, and worry creased her forehead. "I know. I owe that kid a lot." She sighed. "If it gets dangerous, you'd Better be careful, Krillin."  
  
He smiled lovingly at her. "I will, I promise. Where's Marron?"  
  
The little girl poked her blonde head from around her mother, the same place she'd been the whole time. "Daddy? Are you going away?"  
  
The former warrior felt his heart contract at his daughter's sadness. "Yes, but I won't be gone too long, I hope. I'll bring you back something, okay?"  
  
Her sadness easily bribed, Marron brightened and said, "Okay!" Krillin chuckled. He knew his daughter well.  
  
He looked up at Eighteen. "Okay, I gotta go." and he stood up to leave. But before he could turn toward the door, she moved forward and kissed him, the very same kiss that had caused him to fall for her when she had still been a dangerous enemy to him and his friends. He felt himself flush with pleasure. "I'll see you later, honey." As he left, he thought, *Mabey more than see...*  
xxx 


	3. Myths and Legends

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They have taken over my mind and are forcing me to write their sillyness.  
xxx  
  
Gohan woke disoriented and full of pain. What had happened? He tried to open his eyes to see where he was, but opening them even just a slit caused him and amazing amount of pain. He tried to recall what had happened since that thing had grabbed him, but he couldn't get more than bits and pieces to come forward, and all of them so clouded in pain that they were no more than a blur.  
  
He heard someone coming into the room and decided that they didn't need to know that he was awake yet. There was something strange about their energy, something that Gohan had never sensed before, and he was cautious. The person was messing with something on a nearby table. Another one came in behind the first and said, "I thought no one was supposed to be in here. If you wake this guy up, Delis is going to make sure you fit in an ash tray!"  
  
"I'm not the one being loud! Now shut up and help me find that spell."  
  
So he wasn't supposed to be awake, huh? He wondered what was going on and who Delis was. As he heard the two men leave, he started to work on the ties of his bonds, expecting that they would break quite easily against the strength of a Saiyan. But not only were they stronger than he expected, he was Weaker! He could hardly move, and he could feel something blocking him from gathering his energy, something that was in his mind, wrapped around his power like a smothering blanket! What was he going to do Now?  
xxx  
  
Everyone sat around the table in Giles house, Willow in front of her laptop looking for information on Usaki. "Got it! Kenjo Usaki was killed a hundred and seventy-five years ago in Japan. He joined up with a major group about a hundred years ago that is trying to bring about another apocalypse. They're called the 'Servants of the Beast' and they've been operating for nearly a century. It says here that no one was ever really concerned with them as a threat."  
  
Buffy said, "Why not?"  
  
Giles, having recognized the name of the sect, said, "Because the spells to release the Beast they are serving need a power source that would in itself be sufficiant to destroy a planet, but that is held by one who won't use it that way. He is called the 'Child of Light', and only when they have this one can they drain his power, corrupt it, and then feed it to the Beast."  
  
"Usaki said something about a Vessle."  
  
Giles nodded. "The Vessle is an artifact capable of holding the energy of the Child of Light, not unlike a battery being charged. Once it's full, then the Master of the Beast will kill him to sever the link between him and his power. He'll also kill every vampire in the sect to create a shaft of power, a sort of spear of demonic energy that will both corrupt the energy of the Child and send it to the Beast, who is burried beneath the surface, probably under the park, since that's where they have set up their alter."  
  
Buffy said, "So what's the best way to attack this?"  
  
Giles thought about it for a moment. There weren't too many texts on these people, but there Was one that would most likely help. He went to his collection, rifled through a few of the boxes that he had removed from the school library before they had planted the bomb that had killed the Mayor, and took out one slim volume titled "Darshic Orgisa Na." Translated: Little Book of Demons. Well, no one said that all stuffy tombs had to have stuffy names. He looked through the pages until he found one with the Servants of the Beast on it. "Here we are." He scanned the text for a moment, then, finding what he had been looking for he said, "It seems that if you break the Vessle before it's used then nothing can happen. If you break it after it is used but before they kill the Child, then all of the energy will return to him. And most importantly, the Vessle is also the center of every one of the spells which are holding on to the Child. If you break it, he will be able to defend himself quite well on his own."  
  
"Sounds like a plan. So what does this dohickey look like?"  
  
So Giles laid the book on the table an everyone looked at it. It was a statue, made of bronze, of a bald, nude, female angel, her eyes closed and her wings long enough to actually be effective. She stood on a small pedestal, the longest primary feather of each wing just touching it behind her feet, with her arms in a relaxed position to each side. She was depicted next to an actual feather, showing the scale of the thing to be about that of the Oscar. "The book says something about the statue changing when the Ritual begins, but it doesn't say how."  
  
"Well, I guess I'd better go down there as soon as the sun's up. If we can stop this thing before tomorrow night, we probably won't have to deal with the whole thing. I'd like to avoid the split-second timing if I can."  
xxx  
  
Gohan was fully awake, and starting to feel less pain. He took stock of the room and realized that it was fairly bare. There were only a few boxes of papers stacked in one corner, one smallish desk and a chair. He couldn't see anything that he could use to pry open the door or anything close enough to use to pick the lock on the cage. He wasn't used to this weakness, but he figured that he must be holding at normal human strength. The whatever-it-was that was blocking him was only stoping him from using ki energy, not personal energy, and he was fairly muscular, but the cage was made of good steel, and he didn't have a chance of even bending it.  
  
He wished that he could have just ignored that energy ball. But what would that have made him? A coward, that's what. Hmph. Well, at least he had the advantage of surprise as long as they didn't realize that he was awake. At least he Hoped they didn't.  
  
He had gathered from some of the gosip that he had overheard that Delis planned on stealing his energy for some evil purpose. Supposedly, only someone as powerful as he was could pull this off, and they hadn't been able to find someone in their own world, but had finally found him in another dimension and set a trap for him.  
  
Well, all he had to do was wait. They would have to take him out of the cage to perform their little Ritual, and hopefully he would be able to escape then. If not...well he would take as many of them with him as he could!  
xxx  
  
Krillin and Trunks stood on the platform with Piccolo, Dende, and Mr. Popo. Piccolo said, "How long has he been missing?" The large Namek was visibly agitated since he couldn't find any trace of his one-time pupil either.  
  
"It's been nearly three days. Chichi said that he was going on a fishing trip in the woods, and that's the last anyone's heard from him."  
  
Piccolo walked to the edge of the platform and focused on that section of the planet. He hadn't noticed anything going on during these last weeks, and even that quiet worried him. As he focused, though, he found the traces of a fight in a small clearing in the woods. "There."  
  
"What, you found him?" yelled Krillin.  
  
"No, but I know where to start looking now. Follow me!" And he dove off the platform flying in the direction of the forest around Chichi's house. While in the air, Trunks called Bulma so that she would know what was going on. The Last thing they needed was for Chichi to start accusing them of leaving her out of the search for her son.  
  
They reached the clearing and landed. Gohan's side bag, containing his fishing knife, two books, and a couple of dino-caps, had been dropped and scattered, spilling onto the forest floor. Piccolo could sense the remains of the dimensional portal in the air, but he wasn't sure how to use it, or even if he could. The Namek just stood there for a moment and looked deep inside himself for the answers, asking the part of himself that was Kami what to do, but he still couldn't see how to work the damned thing. Almost to himself, the Namek said, "This could take a while."  
xxx 


	4. Finding the Child

Disclaimer: Hey guys, it's not like I'm making any money off this. You really can't get blood from a turnip, although if you figure out a way to, you could sell it to Angel.  
  
Gohan watched as Delis finished the preperations for the Ritual from the back of his cage. The sorcerer knew that he was awake, so Gohan had stopped pretending and moved into a more comfortable position. Not that Any position could be comfortable with your hands and feet tied.  
  
Delis had taken great pleasure in explaining in detail exactly what was going to happen to him. He'd pointed to the little statue and said, "First, my dear boy, this little beauty is going to wake up. Yes, she's real under all that gilding. She'll drain you of all your energy, down to the last watt, until you're a mere shell of yourself, and then I'll let my pets have you for lunch." He meant the vampires. "After that, it will be only a moment of time before we give you're energy to the Beast who will bring about the destruction of this world! Finally will the human stink be gone from our noses! And you will make it all possible! Isn't that wonderful?" Then he'd gone about his preperations, laughing like a maniac.  
  
Gohan's energy was completely renewed, but for once he wasn't glad. If he had been a weaker sort then they wouldn't have the energy to bring about their mad scheme, but they had known exactly where to find him and exactly how he would react to the presence of a strange energy so close to home. He had simply been caught by a trap because he had been too curious for his own good. Now he was going to pay for that mistake with his life, and that wouldn't be so bad. After all, he'd get to see his dad again. But the entire population of this planet was going to pay with him, and dammit, it just wasn't fair!  
xxx  
  
Piccolo started prodding the defunct portal with small jabs of energy, expecting it to waver, but he got a surprise. Not only did the portal Absorb the energy, but it sent out seeking tendrils that tried to follow the path that energy had taken and latch onto him. Now he realized what had happened to Gohan. He would have probed the thing just out of curiosity and it had grabbed him, probably feeding off his energy to send him to wherever he had been taken. Well he thought he could probably manage to open it again, but getting back might be a problem. He would have to have something to hold the damed thing open. But what could do that?  
  
Trunks said, "Hey, Piccolo, what is that?"  
  
"Some kind of portal." He was about to return to his contemplation when and idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. Trunks and Goten both had already reached Super Saiyan potential and had sparked several times in their mock battles. But niether one of them would do it if their parents were near. Vegeta wouldn't understand, and would probably be annoyed if he found that his son had reached so high a level so soon. Goten had transformed infront of Chichi Once, while she was training him, and she had freaked out, forbidding him ever to transform again in her presence. Piccolo had, of course, noticed their tremendously fast progress from Kami's Lookout, but he also knew that the boys would probably be reluctant to display their power in front of any adults. He turned to Krillin and said, "I think we're going to need Goten for this."  
  
Krillin looked at the Namek as if he had spots. "Okay. I guess I'll go get him." The former monk looked first at Trunks, then back at Piccolo, then shrugged and took off, flying toward Chichi's house.  
  
Piccolo turned to Trunks. "Would you object to helping me, Trunks?"  
  
"Of course not, Piccolo! How?"  
  
"By becoming a Super Saiyan with Goten and holding open the portal until I can get Gohan and get back through it."  
  
Trunks started. How'd He know? Slowly, he nodded. He really didn't mind, it was just that his dad was really uptight about his strength and he wasn't sure how the Saiyan prince would react to his son achieving that level so much sooner than he had.  
  
Krillin and Goten came flying over the treetops within a few minutes and landed in the clearing. The youngest Saiyan looked at Trunks and Piccolo and said, "Is this about my brother being missing?"  
  
"Yeah. Piccolo says that he needs us to hold open the portal that Gohan went through so that he can bring him back."  
  
"Okay! What do we have to do, Mr. Piccolo?"  
xxx  
  
Buffy looked at the entrance to the gazebo in the park. It had taken all of the two days they had to figure out just where the Ritual was being held, mostly because until tonight, there hadn't even been any gaurds on the place. Now she krept up on them, using all the stealth capabilities she had, and staked them, not bothering with her usual witty comments in respect of the need to not waste time. She started moving up the coridor, noticing absently that the moon was full tonight. It would be easier to see her silouette against the reletive brightness of the outside, so she kept to the edges of the wall.  
xxx  
  
Piccolo forced open the portal, making sure that the two small Super Saiyans at his sides were ready to hold it open with thin streams of energy. As he jumped into the swirling ball of energy, he silently prayed that this wasn't going to be a really big mistake.  
xxx 


	5. Saving a Saiyan

Disclaimer: I promise not to make any money off of this. Besides, who would buy it?  
  
Gohan struggled against the vampires as best as he could. With or without his Saiyan strength, Piccolo and his father had trained him well, and he was a formidable opponent, but against so many, he really stood no chance. He was dragged to the center of the room and his feet were shackled to a staked chain in the middle of the room. His loose, long- sleeved shirt had been removed, so he stood naked to the waist, his hands cuffed behind his back and his feet hobbled and staked.  
  
Delis walked to the edge of the circle that represented the greatest possible extent of Gohan's reach. The sorcerer grinned evilly at his captive. "I have something to show you, pet." He walked back to the side wall, pushed a large switch, and looked up. Gohan followed his gaze and started. The switch had activated the sky panel, which moved steadily out of the way, revealing open sky and a full moon. He hadn't ever seen it before without dangerous consequences. For a brief moment, Gohan wished that his tail would grow back, but it had been gone long enough that it never would, and anyway, innocent people would get hurt if he transformed into that ape monster in the middle of a city. So Gohan just looked at it for a moment, feeling its power in his mind, tasting it, wondering why his captor had wanted him to see it.  
  
Delis looked himself for a while. "Beautiful, isn't it? Seemingly peaceful, yet full of untapped energy. How could one like myself stand such power being beyond his reach, coming into sight every month just to taunt him?" Then he looked at the young man tied before him. "But what if he had within his power one who was genetically programmed to touch that power, one with great power of his own?"  
  
Delis took out the statue from her little case and sat her on the small table in front of Gohan. The power of the full moon running through his mind produced a signature that the Vessel reacted to. He watched in apprehension as her eyes opened, blinked and her frame relaxed from its ancient perpetual stance. She stretched her wings and her body, extending all six of her limbs as a sleeper who has just awakened and yawned. She was actually rather pretty.  
  
But as she finished her stretch and stepped off her little podium to the surface of the table, she looked at Gohan and an expression of evil anticipation crossed her face. There was no question as to who's side she was on. Her face changed, developing fangs, heavy brow ridges and a heavy hunger akin to lust blatant in its expression.  
  
Gohan took up as much of a defensive posture as he could manage, bending his knees and crouching slightly, watching the Vessel intently for her first move. She seemed amused by this, and a sound like tinkling crystal erupted from her, her version of a sardonic chuckle. Her voice was soft, dulcet, and dripping with irony as she said, "The little boy thinks he can fight me with his hands, feet, and power all hobbled! How droll! Shall we see how long he lasts?" And she spread her wings, launching at the captive Saiyan.  
  
Gohan dodged pass after pass, fighting for his live as never before. He couldn't hope to win, but he couldn't give up either. He had come close to doing so when fighting Cell, and he wasn't going to make that mistake again. If he was going to die, then he was going down fighting!  
  
All the Vessel needed was one scratch, but the boy really was a good fighter. He had amazing speed for a human (which was all he was at the moment)and he was successfully avoiding all of her attacks. But in the end, his speed couldn't be enough. She collapsed her wings in a dive and landed on the boy's shoulder, quickly sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of his neck. Gohan screamed in pain, not the pain of the bite itself, but the pain of being forcefully drained, a deep, mind-numbing pain that traveled throughout his body. It reached into his core for even the deepest of his reserves, pulling the energy out through the bite. For an eternal moment, the pain wracked his body as the Vessel drained him with incredible speed. But then the pain shifted to the purely physical as his body no longer had even the energy needed to keep his heart pumping. It faltered, then arrested, sending pain throughout his chest and all down his left side until he passed into unconsciousness and could no longer feel it.  
xxx  
  
As Piccolo came through the portal, landing on a concrete floor, he felt Gohan's energy signature. He saw him on the floor, without a shirt on, his hands and feet both immobilized. His energy was at full power, but somehow, flickering, and his life force had ebbed to below sustainable levels. and worst of all, though he was still breathing, barely, Piccolo couldn't hear his heart!  
xxx  
  
Buffy burst in on the scene, having taken out seven vamps already who had been guarding the Ritual. She saw three things at once; a kid about her own age in chains and collapsed on the floor of the gazebo, a seven-foot, green-skinned demon who had just popped through a glowing ball of light, and a human dressed in black robes holding a knife. Then she saw the golden thing sucking on the kid's neck and the fifty or so vamps that came through the opposite door.  
xxx  
  
The vampires thought that the green one was a demon, and therefore on their side, but they all knew that the girl was the Slayer. They all attacked her at once, not wanting to leave this to chance. Buffy, a stake in each hand, waded into the group, dusting them left and right as they got in eachother's way.  
xxx  
  
Piccolo watched the girl work for a moment and realized that the things she was fighting weren't people. They were Vampires! How did you go about killing a vampire? The part of him that was Kami quickly supplied the answers. Sunlight, huh? Well he could do that, especially since the girl was obviously trying to help Gohan. The Namek gathered his energy and closed his eyes, preparing one of the attacks he had learned from Goku  
xxx  
  
As Buffy watched around the fighting, the green demon looked her way and shouted for her to duck and close her eyes. For some reason, at the very next opportunity, she obeyed his directive, not quite knowing why, but knowing it was the right thing to do. She heard him shout "Solar Flare!" and felt his energy, not exactly small to begin with, spike off the charts. She saw a light, even through her hands and eye lids, that was so brilliant she was nearly blinded. She heard the vamps around her scream an then felt the air move as Every One of them was turned to dust. She waited for the light to subside, then opened her eyes and stood up.  
  
The green thing (she wasn't certain any more that he was a demon) was kneeling next to the boy and was about to try and take the Vessel off his neck, but it proved unnecessary as she flew up off the boy herself. Buffy saw that she had the same form as the statue in the drawing in Giles's book, but her face had transformed just like any other vampire. She laughed at them and said, "You're too late fools! He's drained and his heart has stopped. The silly human isn't even going to need his knife to sever the link; he's going to die right here of a heart attack!"  
xxx  
  
Piccolo's eyes widened in fear for his friend. This little thing had taken all of Gohan's energy? He reacted quickly, passing enough of his own energy to Gohan for him to survive on through his own hand. It wasn't working!  
xxx  
  
Buffy saw the green guy's hand glowing and felt a bit of evergy passing from him into the kid. She ignored the Vessel for the moment, checking his pulse. It wasn't working. She said to him, "Can you shock his heart?"  
  
He looked up at her. "What?"  
  
"If you jolt his heart you can jump-start it. In hospitals they use electricity."  
xxx  
  
Piccolo thought quickly. Yeah, he could do that. He moved his hand to Gohan's chest and sent a short, powerful burst directly into the cardiac muscle. It caused him to jump, but piccolo still couldn't hear a heart beat. He did it again. Still nothing. He made the burst a little more powerful the third time and it finally worked. The Saiyan coughed and sputtered as his body came to life again. Piccolo was relieved, but he didn't waste any time on it. He turned to the girl, hoping she knew how to fix this. "What can we do to get Gohan's energy back to him?"  
  
She said, "We have to break the Vessel," pointing to the little golden bitch, "but the book didn't say how to do that."  
  
Piccolo grinned angrilly. "Is that all?" He stood up and trained his senses on the vampire. She had all of Gohan's power, byt it still had Gohan's signature. That meant she couldn't use it. "No problem."  
  
Buffy looked at the green man as he stood up and noticed that what was human of his anatomy was a fighter's build, and he had energy like what had been stolen from the boy. So she stayed out of it, keeping her finger on Gohan's pulse. She wondered just how this other guy had gotten here, and for that matter, how had Gohan?  
  
Piccolo wasn't messing around. He knew she couldn't approach his speed, so he flashed and got behind her, and while she was still trying to figure out where he had gone, he grabbed her by the legs and smashed her into the floor. She exploded with a shriek and a cloud of energy expanded up from her. The cloud drifted toward Gohan and sedately settled onto his body, melting back into it. His eyes flew open with a gasp as his power was returned to him.  
  
Buffy stood back as Gohan got to his feet. He looked around and saw the sorcerer behind her heading for the exit. He broke the chains on his feet and hands with no effort and flashed after him, landing in front of him before he could get out the door. He said, "Where do you think You're going?"  
  
Delis stepped back only to find Piccolo right behind him. He started quaking in fear. "Please! Don't hurt me!"  
  
Gohan sneered, "Like you didn't hurt me?" he spat. "I ought to take you apart right here!" Gohan's energy exploded into golden fire, bleaching his hair to blonde and his eyes to green, transforming him into a Super Saiyan. "What do you think, Piccolo?"  
  
Buffy stared at the change in the boy. *Wow!* she thought. *I wonder what kind of power he has.*  
  
Piccolo pretended to concider the question. He knew that Gohan really wanted to scare this guy, so he played it up, putting the deepest scowl on his face. "I don't see any reason why not."  
  
Buffy thought, *Hold it. They're going to slaughter this guy!* She understood their feelings, but this wasn't right. He was helpless. She moved forward to intercept their actions, but while the sorcerer was facing the other direction, Gohan winked at her with one green eye. She had to stifle a giggle. They were just haming it up. Well this guy deserved it if anyone did.  
  
Piccolo continued. "Of course, if he were to make certain that this could never happen again, I might concider letting him live. Maybe."  
  
Gohan acted like he thought that was a bad idea and grabbed he man by his collar.  
  
Buffy said, "Come on, little man. Give over all your books, notebooks, and anything else you might need to do this again. I can't stop this guy from turning you into hamburger. He's a Lot stronger than I am."  
  
Delis was blubbering now. He would have done anything to prevent a horribly gruesome death at the hands of his former victim. He got everything together while the three warriors talked. Buffy told the Z fighters about her world, and Slaying, and all that had led her to this place in time to help, and Piccolo told her and Gohan how he had gotten there, leaving out the part about the boys holding the portal open. Gohan told the other two all that had happened to him.  
  
Buffy said, "How did you two get this kind of power?" She thought she might like to increase her own abilities if it was just a matter of training. They talked about it for a while, of their natural abilities and the training they had each had and the battles they had fought against Frieza and Cell. It was about that time that Delis finished collecting all of his equipment and brought it into the room. Buffy took all the spellbooks and notes out of the pile and Piccolo torched the rest with a small blast of energy. She said "I'll have Giles look these things over, If they're too dangerous we'll destroy them."  
  
Piccolo and Gohan nodded, then they all turned toward Delis, uniform scowls on their faces. "Get lost, pip squeek!" said Buffy. "Before I decide to forget that little rule about the Slayer not killing humans."  
  
Delis blanched and took off, his robe flapping in the wind of his passage. The three warriors shared a good laugh as he left. But they were out of time. Piccolo said, "We have to get back before the portal closes. It was good to meet you, Buffy. You fight well." He turned back to the portal, and as hewas about to step through, he turned his head back to face her, a grin on his face. "For a Human."  
  
Buffy giggled at the Namek's disappearing back. Gohan chuckled and followed his former teacher, turning back to wave and say goodbye as he walked through.  
  
After they left the portal closed down, leaving the room dark and silent. Buffy took her load of books and headed back up to the surface. She walked out of the park , her mind running at full speed. She blanched to think of facing enemies like Frieza and the androids and Cell, glad beyond measure that she would never have to. Something told her that she wouldn't have stood a chance.  
xxx 


	6. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Anyone attempting to sue will be blown up by Vegeta and gain nothing from the dirt-poor author for their trouble.  
  
The boys stopped feeding the portal as Piccolo stepped through it. By the time Gohan was through, they were no longer Super Saiyans and the portal had begun to collapse. It grew smaller and smaller until it closed with a pop, still there, but no longer a dangerous trap to unwary Saiyans.  
  
Chichi and Bulma had a party later that night to celibrate Gohan's return, a party that no one really expected Piccolo to attend, given his complete lack of interest in social events, but he needed to talk to Gohan. There were quite a few things about the whole situation that were bothering him.  
  
"What is it, Piccolo?"  
  
"The world that Buffy described was actually familliar to me. The Slayers existed on Earth a long time ago, before the Kais set up the Guardianship system here. There would always be one chosen girl in every generation who would attempt to fight the demons and otherworldly evils that tried to destroy the planet. But there was a problem. There was only so much power that they could give any one human at birth. Even with extensive training, there would always be something with more power. So they started the Guardianship, giving the chosen person much greater power as well as the true objectivity of being physically seperate from those who they were protecting."  
  
"Then we were in the past?"  
  
The Namek nodded. "I think so. Which means that we may yet have to deal with whatever it was that Delis was trying to raise back there."  
  
Gohan smiled and said, "Well don't worry woo much about it." He slapped the former Guardian on the shoulder. "It Can't be worse than Cell." And he turned to go back to the party.  
  
Piccolo thought to himself, *I hope you're right.*  
xxx  
  
Deep beneath the earth in a barren spot of land that used to be both a city and a Hellmouth lay the slumbering Beast. He had waited for many thousands of years after his last battle with the forces of good for his "Master" to come and release him. He felt that the time was coming. There would be more time for him to enjoy existance and eat his fill of it. Stirring minutely in his dream, if he had been solid at this point he would have smiled in his sleep. Majin Buu would rise again!  
  
not the end*  
  
Well, how'd you all like it? This is the first time I've published any of my ideas, so I'd really like some feedback now that it's finished. I tried to avoid altering the fabric of the original stories, mostly because I don't like nitpickers, but I really wanted that classic horror film ending, and it ties it right into the next part of the Dragonball Z series. 


End file.
